The Blacklisted Rogue
Chapter 42

The sound of birds chirping woke me up. My eyes fluttered open and I saw trees above me.

I frowned.

How did I get here?

I sat up, feeling confused.

I scratched my head trying to remember what happened.

There was an attack on the Blue Eclipse pack. They had Sally and me trapped...

Am I dead?

Feeling confused, I looked around to make sense of where I was.

I was in a lush, green forest that I was sure I had never been in before. It didn't look anything like the Blue Eclipse pack.

It didn't look like the Midnight pack either.

I got up and strolled through the forest until I found a small creek. I followed the creek downstream and reached a large pond.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw a woman sitting by the edge of the pond, calmly throwing small stones and watching the ripples on the water surface. "H-Hello?"

The woman looked up and my eyes widened.

"Hello Elijah." She said.

I stared at her.

"Sarah?" I asked.

She smiled.

"I'm glad that you remember me."

I scoffed.

"How could I forget?" I muttered. "I killed you."

She patted the spot next to her.

"Will you sit with me?" She asked.

I nodded and sat down next to her.

Sally was wearing the same clothes as she did when she died, except they weren't torn or dirty anymore.

"I don't understand." I said. "Am I dead?"

"Yes and no." Sarah replied calmly.

I furrowed my eyebrows.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Sara threw another stone into the pond.

"Alpha Richard shot you." She said. "So yes, your body is in the hospital morgue as we speak. But right now, you are in kind of a limbo. Not dead, but not alive either." "Why?"

"Tell me. Do you feel finished with your life? Do you want to leave it like it is right now?"

I thought about Sally and I shook my head.

"Then you have your answer." Sarah shrugged.

"Why are you here? I asked. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, but I just always thought that I would meet my mom the day I died."

Sarah laughed.

"Your mother found her peace, like all spirits must do when it's their time. That's why she cannot access this realm."

"But you are here, does that mean that you haven't found peace yet?" I asked.

Sarah smiled.

"How could I? This adorable little boy sacrificed a part of his soul to help me escape my pain. How could I leave him?" "So you mean that you..."

Sarah nodded.

"Yes Elijah, I've been watching you since I died. I'm really happy that you kept your promise to me and never became a monster."

I felt warm in my chest. All those times I felt completely alone, she stayed with me and I never knew it.

"Thank you." I said.

Sarah threw another stone in the pond.

"How did you end up in the Midnight pack cell anyway?" I asked.

Sarah looked down.

"I wasn't always a Rogue." She mumbled. "I lived in a pack with my mate. His name was Gary. He was one of the best warriors in the pack.

One day a neighboring pack declared war on us and Gary went off to fight in that war. We were just mated and we were so happy. While Gary was away, I discovered that I was pregnant. I was so excited to tell him when he got home. It took another month before he returned, but when he did, he was another person."

Sally sighed.

"War is awful." She continued. "It took my Gary and destroyed his soul. When he got home, he was just a shell of his former self.

I tried to give him time. I knew that he had been through something terrible and that he needed to heal. But as the pregnancy progressed, he became more and more restless.

One night when we had dinner, I suggested that he should try some kind of therapy. I don't know what I did wrong, but he just lashed out.

It was the first time he hit me, but it would not be the last.

He got into these fits of rage and I usually got hurt. And it started to happen more and more often.

I wanted to leave him, but I felt too guilty. I mean, he didn't really mean it. He was in pain too.

One night, we got into a fight. I started packing, I wanted to leave to make sure that my baby would be safe. But he grabbed me and..."

Sally rubbed her forehead.

"Once he started he couldn't stop himself." She whispered. "I lost my baby that night."

I felt my chest grow heavier with every word she spoke.

"I'm sorry." I croaked out.

"So I left. I just needed to be alone for a while, so I never settled in a new pack." She mumbled. "That was until I stumbled onto Midnight pack territory and got captured. You already know what happened after that." I nodded.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you." I said and looked down.

"It's alright." She smiled. "I would have died there anyway. If not by your hand, then by someone far more brutal."

"It's not fair." I mumbled.

Sarah shook her head.

"Is Gary the reason you asked me to hold on to my soul? To never become a monster?" I asked.

Sarah took my hand.

"There was nothing I could do for Gary. He couldn't deal with of the horrors that haunted him and he lost both his mate and his baby because of it. But I hoped that my death wouldn't have been in vain if you managed to stay a good person despite everything." "I hope that I didn't let you down." I smiled.

Sarah laughed.

"You didn't." She reassured. "I'm kinda proud of you actually. And from what I was able to see, I'm not the only one. So how come you can't be proud of yourself?"

I shrugged and looked down.

"1

I guess, when you are told every day that you are useless, you start believing what they are saying eventually." I muttered.

Sarah smiled at me.

"Who said that?" She asked.

"Everyone." I shrugged.

"Did Alpha Jordan tell you that?"

"No."

"Did Joe tell you that? Or Barry?" "No."

"So, who said that to you?"

I started to see her point.

"Midnight pack." I said.

"Has anyone in your new pack told you that you are useless?"

I shook my head.

"And if you could choose between the two packs, which one would you choose?"

"Blue Eclipse pack."

Sarah punched my shoulder.

"Then why in the hell are you believing the words of a pack that you'd never choose?"

I didn't reply. Instead, I looked out over the pond.

Sarah was right.

Just like Gary, I was letting my past haunt me to the point where it almost consumed me. My wolf was in a poor condition, not because of what they did, but because I let them. But I could be stronger than that.

I had a chance to be myself for once. I just knew that I had to take it.

I looked at Sarah and I saw her grinning at me.

"Now, we're getting somewhere." She chirped.

"I just don't know what to do." I admitted. "I want to go back. I want to save my mate. But I don't know how."

Sarah reached out into the pond and dragged her fingers across the surface.

An image emerged on the surface where her fingers had touched the water. I gasped when I saw Sally in a Midnight pack prison cell. She was battered and bruised, but she was alive.

I leaned forward.

"Don't worry, my love. I'm coming for you."

Sally jerked at my voice and looked around.

"Elijah?" She whimpered.

Surprised, I turned to Sarah.

"Can she hear me?" I hissed.

Sarah snickered.

Ignoring her, I turned back to the image.

"Don't give up! I'm on my way." I reassured her.

"I must be going crazy." She mumbled.

"No." I whispered. "You are going to be just fine, baby. Just hang in there and I'll be there."

Sally closed her eyes and tears ran down her cheeks.

"I miss you."

I reached out on the water surface, but the image blurred and disappeared.

"Can you bring her back?" I asked Sarah.

"No." She said calmly. "But I can bring you back. I think you are ready."

I nodded.

"I'm ready." I said and put a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you for watching over me. If you need to go replace your own peace, you should do that instead of lingering around here. I'll be fine." Sarah smirked.

"And miss the upcoming battle? I don't think so." She laughed.

I laughed too.

Sarah scooped up water in her hand.

"Good luck Elijah." She whispered and placed her wet hand on my forehead.

George POV

We were helping in the pack hospital when we heard screaming. I saw people running.

"Are we being attacked again?" Hudson asked.

"I would have been receiving a mind-link if we were." I said, confused.

Just in case, I mind-linked Alpha Jordan to tell him that we had a situation in the hospital, but he confirmed that we were not under attack.

"Let's go replace out what's going on." I said.

Hudson and Luke followed me down the stairs to the hospital basement.

We stopped in our tracks when we saw a wolf in the corridor. The wolf was light brown with a darker patch over his face, just like...

"Elijah?" I asked in disbelief.

That couldn't be Elijah. His wolf was small and frail. This one was a lot bulkier, with shiny fur and a dominating aura. Like a ranked wolf should be. The wolf came closer to us and stopped a few feet away.

The wolf shifted back to a man, revealing a perfectly unharmed Elijah in front of us.

"Where is Sally?" He asked.